Sydney-Melbourne clashes lift ad take

Cameron Smith of the Storm poses with the trophy after winning the 2012 NRL grand final match against the Canterbury Bulldogs in Sydney.
Photo: Getty Images

by
Ben Holgate

High television ratings buoyed by competing Sydney and Melbourne teams in the football grand finals helped the host broadcasters to push advertising rates up to $150,000 a spot and earn several million dollars each in incremental ad revenue.

It is estimated Nine booked $6 million to $8 million in ad revenue for the Sunday evening NRL grand final, in which Melbourne Storm beat Canterbury Bulldogs 14-4.

Seven is thought to have booked about $8 million in ad revenue for the Saturday afternoon AFL grand final, in which the underdog Sydney Swans beat Hawthorn by 10 points.

AFR
AFR

About half the footy final ad revenue would have been incremental income for the networks, sources said.

The NRL grand final secured the highest ratings for six years, recording averages of 2.55 million capital city viewers and 3.87 million nationally (including regional). The NRL peaked at 2.99 million for metropolitan audiences and 4.65 million nationwide.

However, they lagged Seven’s AFL grand final ratings. It attracted averages of 2.94 million metropolitan viewers and 4.05 million nationwide. The AFL game peaked at 3.62 million viewers in the capital cities and 5.08 million nationally.

Sydney’s defeat of Hawthorn attracted the highest ratings for an AFL grand final in six years, but they were below both previous grand finals where the Swans appeared.